KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 20/17 Tennessee men’s basketball team (4-0) is set to continue the 2025-26 slate at Food City Center Thursday as it hosts the Tennessee State Tigers (2-2). Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
Fans can stream Thursday’s game on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. Andy Brock (play-by-play), Steve Hamer (color) and Sarah Detwiler (reporter) will have the call.
Fans state-wide can tune in to their local Vol Network radio affiliate to hear New Voice of the Vols Mike Keith and analysts Chris Lofton and John Wilkerson depict the action.
Tennessee has started its 2025-26 regular season with four straight wins, most recently a 91-66 victory Monday over Rice. In that contest, Felix Okpara had his first 20-point game, as well as led UT in scoring for the first time. The Vols have had three 17-point scorers in each of the last three games. That happened 14 times in Rick Barnes‘ first 10 seasons, half of which were in 2018-19.
THE MATCHUP
• The Volunteers and Tigers met every year from 2013-14 to 2015- 16, but have not played since.
• Tennessee’s perfect 6-0 series record includes wins by an average of 18.3 ppg. Four of the six victories are by over 20 points.
• After going 17-16 (12-8) last year, Tennessee State placed fourth in the OVC preseason poll, notching one first-place vote.
• Senior guard Aaron Nkrumah paces the Tigers with 18.5 ppg.
• UT owns a 44-2 all-time record against the current members of the OVC, including a 28-1 ledger against Tennessee Tech.
• Rick Barnes is a perfect 9-0 versus the current OVC membership, all against fellow Tennessee schools during his tenure on Rocky Top.
• Nolan Smith is the second head coach who was on Duke’s 2010 NCAA title team to visit Knoxville this season. Duke’s Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils in an exhibition game on 10/26/25. Rick Barnes coached against them on 3/21/09.
• The Tigers’ Khalil London is from Wyandanch, N.Y., the same hometown as VFL Zakai Zeigler.
NEWS & NOTES
• With 840 wins, Rick Barnes leads active DI coaches and ranks ninth all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
• The Vols placed third in the SEC media preseason poll this year. It marked UT’s fourth straight top-three selection—no other school has even a two-year streak—and eighth consecutive top-five pick.
• Tennessee has used a different starting lineup in each of its first four games, doubling its 2024-25 total. It had the same opening five in 37 of 38 games last season.
• Nate Ament, the recipient of both SEC Freshman of the Week honors this year, has logged at least 18 points and eight rebounds in each of his first four games. No other DI freshman has hit those marks even thrice, with just Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Illinois’ David Mirkovic doing so twice.
• Against Rice, Felix Okpara had his first 20-point game, as well as led UT in scoring for the first time.
• The Vols have had three 17-point scorers in each of the last three games. That happened 14 times in Rick Barnes‘ first 10 seasons, half of which were in 2018-19.
• UT leads the nation in rebounding margin (+22.0) and in offensive rebounding percentage (52.6).
• The Volunteers have won 40 nonconference games in a row, dating to 12/8/20. Per Elias, that is UT’s second-longest streak ever and is just three shy of the school record.
• Tennessee, Alabama and Houston are the only schools to make the last three Sweet 16s. Tennessee, Alabama and Duke are the only three in the last two Elite Eights.
• UT finished fifth in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom for the second consecutive season in 2024-25, tying the program best set/tied just one year prior. They were in the AP top 12 all year, with 18 straight top-eight nods to end the year. UT was top-five 11 times and at No. 1 for five weeks.
• UT’s 205 wins in the last nine years (2017-26) are co-sixth in DI, alongside Auburn. Only Houston (247), Gonzaga (244), Duke (224), Kansas (215) and Purdue (210) own more. After UT, the rest of the top 10 is Saint Mary’s (204), Liberty (203) and Drake (201).
WINNING WAYS
• Over the last nine seasons (2017-26), Tennessee paces all SEC programs in postseason victories (23), sits co-first in total victories (205) and is a close second in overall winning percentage (.735; 205- 74). In that period, UT has three SEC titles (2018 and 2024 regular seasons, 2022 tournament).
• In that same span, the Vols are one of two SEC teams with 190-plus wins or an overall winning percentage above .700, alongside Auburn (205-72; .740).
• Over SEC play across the same period, Tennessee (98-45; .685) is first in league victories and league winning percentage. Only Kentucky (97-46; .678), Auburn (96-48; .667) and Alabama (91-53; .632) are also at 85-plus wins and/or a .600 clip.
• In just the last five seasons (2021-26), the Vols own a 113-36 (.758) overall record. That is good for the most wins and the second-best winning percentage in the SEC, ahead of Auburn (111-34; .766) in the former and closely behind it in the latter.
• In that same time, Tennessee (51-21; .708) is cosecond, alongside Alabama (51-21; .708), in the SEC in both league victories and league winning percentage. It is behind only Auburn (53-19; .736).
HOLDING SERVE
• The Volunteers went undefeated at home in nonconference play each of the last five seasons. Including their 4-0 record this year, they have won 40 such games in a row, dating to the to the 2020-21 season opener (12/8/20).
• Per Elias Sports Bureau, the 40 straight wins marks the second-longest such streak in UT history, passing a 38-game tally from 12/15/96 to 12/17/01. The program record, according to Elias, is 43 from 12/7/40 to 12/10/49.
• The Volunteers’ 40-game regular season nonconference home winning streak is fourth in DI. It trails only Auburn (63), Baylor (47) and Texas Tech (42). The lone others at even 35-plus are Akron (39), Wake Forest (38), Iowa State (37), Connecticut (36), Providence (35) and Purdue (35).
• The only other school with 40-plus non-conference regular season home wins and no such losses over the past six years (2020-26) is Texas Tech (42-0). Just six other schools are above 30: Baylor (38-0), Auburn (34-0), Providence (33-0), Wake Forest (33- 0) and Purdue (31-0).
• During its streak, Tennessee owns victories over programs such as Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Syracuse and Texas.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
• Nate Ament claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors on 11/10/25, the first such accolade of the year in the league. The last Volunteer to win the award was Julian Phillips on 1/23/23.
• Ament averaged 20.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.0 spg across his first two collegiate outings. He shot 52.2 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from deep and 82.4 percent at the line. He led all scorers in each of UT’s first two games, with 18-plus in each.
• Ament, against Mercer (11/3/25) became the fifth Tennessee freshman with 18 points in a season opener in the last 20 years (2006-26).
• Next, Ament had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals versus Northern Kentucky (11/8/25). He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to reach that mark, joining Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard (12/2/23), Alabama’s Brandon Miller (3/12/23), Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler (2/22/22), LSU’s Ben Simmons (12/2/15) and Kentucky’s James Young (1/8/14). Only two other Vols, Chandler and Josiah-Jordan James (3/1/22), have hit those numbers across that two-decade span.
• In the lone game of his second week, Nate Ament had 19 points, nine rebounds, five assist, two steals and one block versus North Florida (11/12/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—seventh instance— in the last 20 years (2006-26) to register that line. Ament follows LSU’s Ben Simmons (thrice in 2015- 16), Kentucky’s James Young (1/8/14), Kentucky’s Archie Goodwin (11/23/12) and Kentucky’s John Wall (3/27/10). Only one other Vol, Igor Miličić Jr. (2/5/25) has notched that line in those 20 seasons.
• That lone performance helped Ament repeat as SEC Freshman of the Week. He became the sixth Vol to claim two such honors in a season, including the first since Zakai Zeigler in 2021-22 and the first one ever to garner them in back-to-back weeks.
DISHING OUT DIMES
• In each of Tennessee’s first three games of the season—wins over Mercer (11/3/25), Northern Kentucky (11/8/25) and North Florida (11/12/25)— two different players had five-plus assists. The Volunteers had that happen just four total times during the 2024-25 season.
• The first four instances were recorded by four different players. Ja’Kobi Gillespie (six) and Ethan Burg (five) did it against Mercer, while it was Nate Ament (five) and Troy Henderson (five) versus Northern Kentucky. Gillespie (seven) and Ament (five) achieved the feat against North Florida.
• In 2024-25, only three different Volunteers had five-plus assists in a game at any point in the year.
• Against Northern Kentucky, Troy Henderson became the first UT freshman with five-plus assists and zero turnovers in a game since Kennedy Chandler (seven) on 3/13/22 in the SEC Tournament title game win over Texas A&M in Tampa, Fla.
• Tennessee had 24 assists against Northern Kentucky, its most since 11/13/24 versus Montana (24). The Volunteers eclipsed that number with 26 against North Florida, their top tally since 2/17/24 against Vanderbilt (28). UT then posted 23 versus Rice, giving the team three straight games at 23-plus.
